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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. race — the arms race
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. race — a contest
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. race — humankind
  11. wind — moving air
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. kick — in football
  14. chest — a box
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. mate — a friend
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. mate — to breed

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com